Magic Jack Hidden Costs? Is It All It's Cracked Up To Be?
Written: Jan 04 '09 (Updated Jan 05 '09)
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When I heard about Magic Jack (www.magicjack.com) I was definitely intrigued. I mean, where else can one get "FREE" Long Distance & Local calls for about $20/month?
What is MagicJack? MagicJack is small little device about 3" in length that plugs into your USB of your computer and allows you to receieve long distance and local calls for only $20/year. It's VERY easy to use! Easier than I expected, infact.
Well, based on all of the hype I decided to give this crazy Magic Jack a try. I was surprised by how incredibly simple installation was. I simply plugged the Magic Jack into a USB port on my desktop computer, plugged the phone into the Magic Jack and let it install itself for a couple of minutes and then followed the activation steps on the screen to get my new phone number and begin calling.
Upon installation I noticed that with a corded phone there was a constant annoying clicking sound, which initially made me very disappointed in Magic Jack. However, I switched to a cordless phone and the problem went away.
You can switch between hearing & sending audio via your computer or through your actual telephone.
Upsides: The audio quality is good for the most part unless you are trying to download too much or playing audio on your comptuer.
$20/YEAR for Long Distance & Local Calls.
30 Day Free Trial to try out the product.
You can travel and keep your phone whereever there is an internet connection.
If you have a cell phone with free nights & weekends you can save minutes by using the magic jack during the day at home.
Downs Sides:
Your computer has to be on and connected to the internet to send or receive calls, which means if you want to receieve calls at all hours your pc will have to be on at all hours and connected to the interenet, which brings up another cost issue. Electriciy. Leaving your pc on 24 hours a day would increase your electricity bill by quite a bit. Most likely enough to negate the savings you would receieve from using a regular home phone.
If your computer or internet went down you wouldn't be able to dial 911 with it in case of an emergency.
Conclusion:
Magic Jack is definitely a neat little product. Is it worth the money? Well, if all it cost were $20/year I'd say ABSOLUTELY! HOWEVER, I will have to wait until I've had it longer to see how much my electricity bill increases from keeping my PC on all day. A lot of people reviewing this product do not keep that in mind.
I will keep the Magic Jack. I think it will be nice to have when I'm at home so I won't have to use up my cell phone minutes and can wait for the free nights and weekends or when I'm out of the house to use.
Recommended:
Yes
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